Post by Ross on May 21, 2008 20:36:38 GMT -5
Coyote attacks wear on nerves
When Teri Sell moved into Sycamore Hills not too long ago, a neighbor passed on a friendly warning.
She had seen what she believed to be coyotes pacing the property lines, close to the homes. It might be a good idea to watch her pets when they were outside.
Coyotes? Those are those doglike animals that only appeared in old Westerns and Warner Bros. cartoons, out in the desert where there was nothing but scrub bushes and rattlesnakes and roadrunners, right? But here?
A few days ago, as far as Sell is concerned, the presence of coyotes near her home was confirmed. She came home from work one evening and let her dogs, two small dachshunds and a young Doberman, into the backyard.
It wasn’t long before two of the dogs had returned to the back door. As Sell was letting them in, she heard her other dachshund screaming and snarling, obviously in a fight of some kind. Sell called the dog’s name and ran to help it. When she got to her dog, it was covered in blood.
Sell and her husband took the dog inside and started to clean it up when they noticed their other dachshund. Its entire neck and back were torn open.
Sell says she never saw the animal that had torn up her two wiener dogs. It was just a blur, but she’s sure it was one of the coyotes that had been seen earlier, the same animal she has since seen pacing next to a small rise just yards from her home.
At the emergency animal clinic, one dog had surgery for its injuries and spent six days there. The other dog came home the same night. Though Sell was convinced it was a coyote that attacked her dogs, the veterinarian listed their injuries as the result of a dog attack.
The result was that her dogs were placed under 45-day quarantine.
In the following days, Sell started hearing more stories of coyotes. A client of one of her co-workers had a puppy carried off by a coyote. Another person she knew came home to find a coyote asleep in her yard. A neighbor told her they see coyotes sitting on a small ridge near their yards, just waiting for them to let their pets out. And their regular veterinarian had treated numerous dogs attacked by coyotes.
So the Sells called Animal Control, which, according to spokeswoman Peggy Bender, has received complaints about coyotes for years.
What can be done about the coyotes, they asked. The city had quarantined their dogs. If they can do that, can’t the city eliminate or remove the coyotes that caused all of that?
It goes a lot beyond the danger to pets, they reasoned. There was a story in the news just days ago about a coyote that attacked a toddler in California. Is no one going to do anything until a child gets attacked?
The answer the Sells eventually got was that no one can do much of anything. Animal Control deals with domestic animals. It can’t step in when wildlife, such as a coyote, is involved.
The Department of Natural Resources deals with wildlife, such as coyotes, but it can’t routinely go out and hunt down coyotes.
Instead, Sell and her husband, Troy, were given the names of individuals who trap coyotes and advised to call them.
We talked to the DNR, which advised us that according to state law, landowners are permitted to kill a coyote any time if the coyote is on their land and damaging their property. Landowners don’t need anyone’s permission, and they can authorize others to deal with the animals if they choose to.
That’s good news to Troy Sell, who is from Nebraska, near the border with Wyoming, and used to routinely hunt coyotes.
At least he can protect himself if there’s ever another coyote attack.
Meanwhile, it’s best to be aware that coyotes are most often found hunting at dusk, overnight and in the early morning; and they are opportunistic hunters.
www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080518/LOCAL0201/805180377
When Teri Sell moved into Sycamore Hills not too long ago, a neighbor passed on a friendly warning.
She had seen what she believed to be coyotes pacing the property lines, close to the homes. It might be a good idea to watch her pets when they were outside.
Coyotes? Those are those doglike animals that only appeared in old Westerns and Warner Bros. cartoons, out in the desert where there was nothing but scrub bushes and rattlesnakes and roadrunners, right? But here?
A few days ago, as far as Sell is concerned, the presence of coyotes near her home was confirmed. She came home from work one evening and let her dogs, two small dachshunds and a young Doberman, into the backyard.
It wasn’t long before two of the dogs had returned to the back door. As Sell was letting them in, she heard her other dachshund screaming and snarling, obviously in a fight of some kind. Sell called the dog’s name and ran to help it. When she got to her dog, it was covered in blood.
Sell and her husband took the dog inside and started to clean it up when they noticed their other dachshund. Its entire neck and back were torn open.
Sell says she never saw the animal that had torn up her two wiener dogs. It was just a blur, but she’s sure it was one of the coyotes that had been seen earlier, the same animal she has since seen pacing next to a small rise just yards from her home.
At the emergency animal clinic, one dog had surgery for its injuries and spent six days there. The other dog came home the same night. Though Sell was convinced it was a coyote that attacked her dogs, the veterinarian listed their injuries as the result of a dog attack.
The result was that her dogs were placed under 45-day quarantine.
In the following days, Sell started hearing more stories of coyotes. A client of one of her co-workers had a puppy carried off by a coyote. Another person she knew came home to find a coyote asleep in her yard. A neighbor told her they see coyotes sitting on a small ridge near their yards, just waiting for them to let their pets out. And their regular veterinarian had treated numerous dogs attacked by coyotes.
So the Sells called Animal Control, which, according to spokeswoman Peggy Bender, has received complaints about coyotes for years.
What can be done about the coyotes, they asked. The city had quarantined their dogs. If they can do that, can’t the city eliminate or remove the coyotes that caused all of that?
It goes a lot beyond the danger to pets, they reasoned. There was a story in the news just days ago about a coyote that attacked a toddler in California. Is no one going to do anything until a child gets attacked?
The answer the Sells eventually got was that no one can do much of anything. Animal Control deals with domestic animals. It can’t step in when wildlife, such as a coyote, is involved.
The Department of Natural Resources deals with wildlife, such as coyotes, but it can’t routinely go out and hunt down coyotes.
Instead, Sell and her husband, Troy, were given the names of individuals who trap coyotes and advised to call them.
We talked to the DNR, which advised us that according to state law, landowners are permitted to kill a coyote any time if the coyote is on their land and damaging their property. Landowners don’t need anyone’s permission, and they can authorize others to deal with the animals if they choose to.
That’s good news to Troy Sell, who is from Nebraska, near the border with Wyoming, and used to routinely hunt coyotes.
At least he can protect himself if there’s ever another coyote attack.
Meanwhile, it’s best to be aware that coyotes are most often found hunting at dusk, overnight and in the early morning; and they are opportunistic hunters.
www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080518/LOCAL0201/805180377
